*** "IF THE WORLD of most refined
techniques doesn't reconcile itself with the simple language of nature
in a healthy balance, the life of man will run greater risks, of which
already we are seeing worrying signs."

(Pope John Paul II urging rigorous scientific and
ethical controls to avoid risks to human health from new agricultural
biotechnologies)

*** "AMERICA TODAY is a laughing stock of
the world. It's the sort of thing you would expect from a banana
republic."

(British Tabloid Mirror mocking the election fiasco
in the US)

*** "I DID NOT take it seriously. There
was a game that required me to choose six digits at random and I did it
without any thought. After a few days I received an e-mail that I had
won the $ 10 million prize money."

(Mohammad Karim Basha, a reporter at Indian
Parliament, on winning $ million lottery prize on the internet)

*** "IF I WAS THE PRIME MINISTER, I would
have finished the accountability process within a month because
everybody knew the corrupt people."

*** "YOU'RE LOOKING at the most nervous
father in the entire world, not just the US or Spain."

(Former president and father of US presidential
hopeful George W. Bush, George Bush, on the drawn-out confusion
surrounding the outcome of last week's election)

*** "THE AMERICANS WERE AT FAULT here but
we do not expect him to apologize, it is better to make up for what
happened by action."

(Lieutenant-General Xuan Vinh Vu commenting on
President Bill Clinton's visit to Hanoi and US' role in the Vietnam war)

*** "THEY SHOT ME. But is your life any
better?"

(Posters depicting smiling face of Romanian dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu, who was summarily executed in 1989, during elections
this month)

*** "BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY it
might be your son, your daughter or your loved one who needs a
transplant."

(Heart transplant recipient Robert Moss donating his
replaced heart to the London Science Museum which is prominently
displayed to encourage organ donations)

*** "SUCH IS THE DIRE STATE of Muslim
countries that we are unable to respond effectively to the challenge
posed by the cowardly acts of Israel. Surely we can do something about
it?"

(Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad slamming
the Muslim world at the Organisation of Islamic Conference summit for
its failure to act against Israel for killing unarmed Palestinians)

*** "IF THIS HAD OCCURRED in one of our
countries, they would have already sent an OAS [Organisation of American
States] commission."

(An unnamed Latin American ambassador to Washington
commenting on dragging quagmire surrounding the outcome of US
presidential elections)

*** "IF HE GETS a few more flights to
Baghdad and statements of support from Islamic countries, so what? The
bottom line is we control the money."

(Unnamed Western diplomat playing-down international
and Muslim support for and increasing defiance of economic sanctions
against Iraq and its strongman Saddam Hussain)

*** "WOULD YOU GO TO PRISON for $100 a
day?"

(Law professor of California Western University
Justin Brooks commenting on signing of a law by the state Governor Gray
Davis to pay innocent men and women $ 100 for every day spent in prison)

*** "IF WE CAN CONTRIBUTE to India's
ecological well-being by establishing the country's first captive
vulture breeding centre we will be proud citizens and happy Parsis. It's
a win-win situation."

(Dinshaw Mehta, trustee of 76,000-strong Zoroastrian
community of Mumbai, announcing plans to save the fast receding
population of flesh-eating vulture necessary for disposing of the dead,
a religious rite)